Spring Season Tangents
by daybreaks
Summary: How Rukia and Hitsugaya briefly met, long before Ichigo, Aizen and everything else. "It was in that moment, with the cool tip of Shirayuki's blade in her left hand and in the dust and sand and grit that Rukia felt something flicker in the air."


EDIT: some typos cleaned up. may do some more straightening here and there, but reads slightly better now.

Last bit is based of Bleach 256. Which, I digress, is a filler. I bet it was a wonderful moment for the HitsuRuki fanclub I say I say! : D

So this is what fanfiction is for. To pour on all the subtext that never existed. This is for all the 'crack pairings' out there. Anything could happen between any two characters and have all the significance and reasoning in the world… it's all just up to the almighty pen of the author.

[Aside from that, who ISN'T pleased that the shinigami have made their return to Bleach? Hitsugaya's in a chibi fight with Yukio and Rukia's just Rukia. :D)

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><p>Spring Season Tangents<p>

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><p>"Apparently some new upstart prodigy's just come into Sereitei. He's putting on a public demonstration. Do you wanna go and see?"<p>

Rukia looked at him. Renji shrugged. The girl turned back around and continued to gaze at the pond standing before them both. A small breeze suddenly blew and the sakura blossom tree above their heads relinquished a few petals.

Renji sidestepped them as they fell, and then scratched his head. Normally, Renji wouldn't really give a damn about this Hitsugaya or whatever his name was. But Kaien's death was still eminent and Rukia's features of late had become withdrawn and pale.

Spring had come early this year; people were already talking about hanami parties and picnics and bottles of fine sake. But, Rukia- still she would sit whenever she got a free moment in this quiet space. It'd been a while since he'd had a proper conversation with her.

"What do you say, hm- everyone's raving about him. He's just graduated from the academy, he went through it really fast. Lots of people swear he might even be getting up to captain standards soon."

"That's sounds interesting," Rukia said noncommittally, "Are you interested?"

"Hell yeah," he replied, with a little more gusto than he felt, "It's all Hinamori's been talking about recently, he's her childhood friend or something."

"Ah… How is she doing? Momo-san? And Izuru, and Madarame?"

"Oh fine, Kira and Hinamori's doing great! I've got a sparring session with Ikkaku next week, it should go well…" Renji realized they were getting off topic. "Hey, but you know- Hinamori told me that this guy's got a real powerful ice zanpakutou."

"Ice?" Rukia turned around again. And for the first time, there was a glimmer of interest in her eyes.

"Yeah, ice."

She got up, a little unsure.

Renji dragged her off before a wary second thought could strike.

.

By the time they arrived at the square, the demonstration had already well been started. They wound up at the back of the crowd, fighting for space as more followed through behind them. Rukia struggled not to have a collision, what with Renji quite enthusiastically maneuvering her from behind, excusing them through by-standers.

Suddenly the crowd was everywhere. Everyone was jostling for elbow room or at least a good vantage point. Hands and feet, knees and arms- Rukia duck and dove to try and avoid them but sooner or later the tide of human bodies had swept them well and truly into the thick of it. Finally, Renji stopped.

His hands left her shoulders but all Rukia could see was the back of someone's uniform. She tried standing on the tips of her toes to try and see what was going on. She got a view of a row of necks instead.

Heat radiated from the bodies pressed against her. At least she wasn't so squashed that it had become stifling, just... obscuring. Fists pumped in the air; a lot of them were cheering for some 'kid' or 'shortie'. Was that referring to him, the prodigy?

In spite of herself and her usual melancholy, Rukia's curiosity had been piqued. The surrounding energy was contagious. She'd originally come she knew, to please Renji. It wasn't often that he came to see her now, he had so many new duties as a seated officer and so many new friends. Renji- could you believe it, that ragamuffin street boy- was really popular amongst the Gotei-13.

But whatever the case, she was still too short. And of course it wouldn't affect Renji. He was far too tall. Rukia craned her neck up and saw how rapt he was by the clanging of swords she could only hear not see.

A cry went up and it rippled through the crowd. Some people were losing bets, some people were surprised. He wasn't meant to be that good was he?

"Hey. He's not bad at all." Renji tilted his head. For some reason he suddenly looked pleased. "He's giving a guy from the 8th a thrashing, and I think it's a seated officer."

"What does he look like?"

Renji didn't hear against the noise around them.

She gives his shirt a sharp tug, "What does he look like?"

"Eh?" Renji raised his eyebrows. "You mean the officer guy? He's got brown hair, close cropped. He's pretty muscular too-"

"How about Momo's friend?"

"Oh, he doesn't look like much- he's so short. Probably shorter than you." Renji ducked his head down a little so she could hear better. "Some brat faced kid but he's got hair as white as that old grandpa Yamamoto! Can you believe that- hey, he just did a great block!"

Rukia's face fell in defeat.

"Wait-" Renji tore his eyes away from the spectacle, "Can't you see?"

Rukia gave him a look- an almost dry half smile. "Does it look like I can, you big lout?"

His eyes widened for a split second, then morphed into casual annoyance.

"Sorry if I forgot that not everyone's as half-assed _short_ as you are," he retorted. He scratched his head. "You uh…want to do what we used to do, like apple picking?"

"What?"

The crowd suddenly rose in volume. A new challenger had apparently stepped up to spar the prodigy. Someone from the 5th.

"What-"

Renji huffed, "I mean, on my shoulders! Sit on my shoulders, like when we used to pick apples from that rich guy's house!"

"Oh." Rukia tried to shift, or at least move her position. The people around her didn't seem to notice, and her slight body didn't have enough strength to even give it a bit of a budge.

She sighed. "Never mind. What does his zanpakutou look like?"

Renji laughed. "I can't see much from here, but I bet his zanpakutou is taller than he is, ha!- He's knocked the blade out of the other's guy's hands!"

Rukia's eyebrows raised. Already? The crowd's clamor rose then suddenly dropped. Rukia sank back on her haunches and then relegated herself resignedly to Renji sporadic narration and the crowd's garbled voices.

From what she could tell, after that there were a couple more challengers. The minutes ticked by a little claustrophobically but she gleaned what information she could. It seemed it was only a kendo-style demonstration. Not even a glimpse of any spiritual power. But granted this new shinigami -whoever he was- was _fast_- both on his feet and with a blade in his hands.

So she waited until they finished and she nearly died from the cramped space, impatience and unfulfilled curiosity.

She did not catch sight of him even _once._

.

It was only a couple of days later, when Rukia found herself in the market streets, that she would finally see him.

The day was warm and pleasant and a hawker yelled that if it was this sunny so early, surely it'd mean they've have a hot summer this year! He held up yukatas -summer kimono's spun from silks of pink and blue- claiming they were made from the finest threads: soft to the touch, thin but strong.

Rukia shook her head as she passed him by, smiling as a mother and child stopped behind her, entrapped by the bright colors. The shopkeepers were out in full strength today- anything that could possibly be bought was being sold and anything that could be sold was being bought.

Earlier on, after she had finished her squadron duties for the day, she'd suddenly decided to take a meandering detour on the way home. It was pleasant weather and she'd figured it would be good to stretch her legs after all the time running office errands. But today the toys and trinkets were failing to catch her eye so she finally decided to cross the street and head on home.

It was there and then, when the sun was beginning to dip in the sky and some stalls were beginning to be set up for dinner, that Rukia saw this boy.

She saw him on the side first, and really it was only out of the corner of her eye… you might've even said by chance. But such white spiky hair was unusual anywhere in Soul Society and the build was definitely not of an elderly man. Rukia took a step back. The boy was buying takoyaki from a small shop on the corner. He held up four fingers with his hand to signal the amount and then waited as the shopkeeper finished bagging them. He was dressed in a loose cloak and his hair only just stuck out enough of the hood to be visible.

But this did not concern Rukia as much as the katana on his back, strapped diagonally from neck to waist.

This was what started the movement of her legs.

Without out much thought, bar the brief flashback of yesterday's impatience, Rukia turned and bolted back across and down the street. Determinedly she squeezed round a large fisherman and in a last burst of energy, darted forward and reached out to tap his shoulder.

"Excuse me, " she said.

The boy turned around; he was just about to pay. His eyes narrowed at her uniform and Rukia's mouth dropped open.

Somehow she knew it must have been him, that prodigy. After all, she did cross the street so certainly… and yet she did not quite expect his face to look so young. He really was shorter than her and his hair flopped here and there a little carelessly. The black shinigami robes underneath the cloak seemed to swallow him up in their bagginess. She wouldn't have guessed that _this_ was the one decimating all his opponents the other day. Wasn't he a bit scrawny?

She had expected someone… a little more matured, perhaps the same age as when she and Renji first entered the Gotei-13. Seeing that he was waiting for her to speak, Rukia launched into a brief introduction.

"Kuchiki, Kuchiki Rukia. 13th Division. I was wondering… your zanpakutou, it's affiliated with ice isn't it?"

What disappointment and digust fell into his eyes then.

"Not another one…" he muttered.

The boy turned swiftly around, paid and then started walking.

Ah. Rukia realized her mistake. He'd probably been asked for shows and spars left and right after yesterday's demonstration. Half of Sereitei would have been itching to test his abilities. Renji had already told her what war mongers his old 11th Division were. Rukia bit her lip. And how she had put herself in the same category.

She ran to catch up.

He had started to eat, swallowing each takoyaki ball whole one at a time off their skewers. As she came into stride with him, she saw annoyance come back into his eyes. Seeing that they were beginning to draw a bit of attention, he grabbed Rukia's arm and pulled her into a quieter side street. The boy flicked back his hood and folded his arms.

"Look, Hyourinmaru's shikai isn't to be released for some sort of cheap entertainment. I have better things to do and I am not a magician," he stated tersely, "Now, if you'd kindly leave me in peace, I'd really appreciate it."

Rukia exhaled, "I'm sorry-"

What was his name?

"Hitsugaya-san. That was a bit sudden, and probably a bit rude. It's just that my zanpakutou is of the snow category, and it's of a similar element to yours, isn't it? Zanpakutos like these aren't extremely common in the Gotei-13, at least not that I know of…"

The boy's eyebrows lifted up at her babble, and he no longer looked so standoffish. It made her feel a litte more at ease.

"I mean," Rukia fiddled with the cloth of her robe, "I always wanted to see if there was anyone like me... You were great at yesterday's demonstration. But I do understand- it is a little unceremonious, if you want to continue your way, it's okay."

It was at that point in time that Rukia wondered what she was doing there, and why.

"Kuchiki- from the 13th Division, was it? Your captain is Ukitake Jushiro."

Rukia nodded, even though she was not quite sure what the relevance was.

Hitsugaya sighed and then held out his paper bag of takoyaki for her to hold. He drew his zanpakuto, then tried to use the folds of his cloak to try and hide it from public view as much as possible. The boy muttered something under his breath and despite the warm temperature, a bit of ice formed on the ground.

The zanpakutou grew longer, and the sheath disappeared, but the star-shaped guard remained. Hitsugaya jerked his arm, and ice encased it up to his sword. He tilted his head, then glanced at her as if to say, is this enough? Ice continued to spread on the ground. It was an odd sensation, such warm air clashing with such suddenly cold drafts from the ice.

Shirayuki seemed to tell her that this was no ordinary zanpakuto. There was an unusual note of reverence in the sword's voice, and Rukia respected it. Even she could feel the strong pulse of reiatsu coming from him. He was something else entirely.

After a minute or so when the ice was starting to become significantly visible, Hitsugaya broke the release and the sword reverted back to it's sealed state. The fluidity at which he did such movements was impressive. He slid it back into position on his back and did up his cloak.

"Don't tell anyone," he instructed. He then looked with a bit of distaste at the ice shards that remained and the stares of a few children playing on the other side of the street. He shifted a little awkwardly on his feet. Almost as if he felt he'd overstayed his time, he brusquely made to move away.

Rukia looked down at the food in her hands. She doubted he really meant to give it to her.

"Hey," she called, "Your takoyaki."

The boy's head snapped around. Hitsugaya looked like he was about to colour. But Rukia graciously went forward and pressed the bag into his hands as if nothing had happened.

"Thank you," she said and even though he didn't even seem that interested and she really had no reason to, she drew her blade lightning quick and called out Shirayuki.

She held the sword in her right hand; placed it flat across the palm of her left. She let it flick forward across her left palm, causing snow flakes to fly forward and be caught by the boy's one free hand.

"Pretty," he said, observing Shirayuki's long white ribbon. And then questioned, "Do you have much control of her?"

"A little… her attacked are structured in what I call dances… Though I only know a few. They could be a bit more powerful," Rukia replied, stuttering a little, "I'm… I'm capable of shikai."

She remembered slaying Kaien with it and allowed herself a small shudder.

"What do you mean by dances?"

Rukia laughed a little sheepishly, "They're more stances than anything… I'm not that strong. It's not like I can really control the snow Shirayuki uses in her attacks."

Hitsugaya brow furrows. "You don't… manipulate your own element?"

"You do?" Rukia tapped her sword on her hand cautiously. "I heard you that your zanpakuto might be able to influence the weather."

The boy suddenly looked wary. "Perhaps…"

It was in that moment, with the cool tip of Shirayuki's blade in her left hand and in the dust and sand and grit that Rukia felt something flicker in the air. She wondered at this boy's future, saw it stretch out like an ocean, all the could bes and maybes tossed and turned in a infinite sea of possibility. The potential was staggering, and she realized as she looked at him, that he didn't even know it himself yet.

"You've come through the academy extremely fast," Rukia noted. "You should be careful... many people get jealous of those who are accelerated through into the Gotei-13."

He made a small sound, but Rukia was sure what sort of assent it was. But he gave her this look. Like he couldn't quite figure her out. He couldn't quite figure out if something noteworthy was happening in this backalley of a street or not. Rukia almost wondered if her cards might be shuffled in with his in this game of fate shinigami played. It appealed to her sentimentalism, of stories and symbols and things that _happened_. But although she wanted to say something and she could see something flicker through his eyes as well, neither made a move to act.

Rukia knew it would only take one, small movement and everything could be changed: butterflies flapping their wings to blow storms in lands far away, or pebbles that were dropped and caused avalanches instead.

"It's all right," he says. "I've dealt with it ever since I was little. I know how to watch my back."

Defiance crept into his expression and Rukia almost wanted to hold up her hands in apology. Nervous underconfidence crept into her features, and Rukia lost the courage and the drive.

For here, in this little space, wings remained motionless and snowflakes remained in the palm of the hand of a white haired boy. So Rukia sheathed her sword and Hitsugaya closed his fist and let the snowflakes melt.

The niggling at the back of both their heads faded. The boy with the white hair and enormous potential left her behind on that dusty street and Rukia could do nothing else but slowly make her way home.

.

In the weeks that followed, for a little while, Rukia might have stopped to wonder at this little run in every now and again.

Perhaps Hitsugaya might have wondered too. But amongst the hundreds of shinigami that sought Hitsugaya out, Rukia wasn't by far the most unusual or outstanding. Rukia soon forgot about it and Hitsugaya did too as he rose through the ranks of the shinigami. In the long relentless years that followed after, they did not even have one single significant conversation. And if they did have any, they were simply just in passing.

It was only of course, after so many things _had_ happened that she did end up speaking to him. It was at a rowdy party organized by Shirayuki- the zanpakuto thought it might work to draw out the Toju that attacked them earlier. But by then Hitsugaya had become a captain, and she had become so inextricably linked with Ichigo that it was now impossible to tear away. They had both grown in their respective personalities and when they met there, they both remembered only vaguely that interchange on the street.

It was Rukia who remembered it the most, and by the glance she saw Hitsugaya give Shirayuki, she thought he rembered it too. But no longer did she see that same realm of possibility that she did so many years ago.

They did still see each other sure, work together as allies, but that was that. And if perhaps that night Hitsugaya was a little more civil than he normally was and Rukia was a little more receptive, then maybe that incident might have been to pblame. But Rukia could no longer break stride, and dash on instinct to tap his shoulder, say 'Excuse me, wait'. They were well and truly bound like actors to their roles now. And although they still ran so closely to each other, it still remained that everything else had been written. Their paths were now set in stone.

Even Rukia, who broke life and death, could not move this.

She could only stand and smile and wonder.

For it was odd, Rukia mused, as she surveyed Hitsugaya leave the party.

Once, they were strangers. Once, briefly they very nearly were acquaintances. And now just as simply, they were strangers once again once more.

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><p>Comments, if you have any to spare, are most appreciated. (: Thank you for reading!<p> 


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